Dornava, Dornava Manor

On the plains of the Ptuj fields, Dornava Manor stands on the axis of a Baroque park. The central representative three-storey building is a memorial to the Attems family. Before that in the same place or in its vicinity stood the caste of the Herbersteins and Sauers. The present manor was built by the Attemses from 1753 to 1755 according to plans by Jožef Hueber. Behind the Baroque castle there are two pavilion tracts as extensions that frame the edge of the garden. An extensive garden plan is formed by a distinctive oblong axis connected with the manor, and a shorter transverse axis. Together they form an area cross which once ended with sculptures of the saints.

The luxurious Baroque design of the manor with the garden starts with the sculpture of the Immaculate and an accessible path through a double promenade planted with linden trees. This leads to the entry of the garden, which is protected by an enclosure with rustic fence sections adorned with vases and Baroque sculptures from the workshop of Filip Jakob Straub. These direct the view to the representational pilaster portals and to the rich three-storey façade which gradually forms a gable. The axis traverses the transition vestibule of the manor and runs behind it through the inner courtyard surrounded with two side tracts, towards the well and further on. A simpler grass parterre with two symmetrical square sections ends with a fence enclosure. Through the portal we come to the clover-shaped Neptune fountain with a pool and a severely damaged statue of the deity in the midst of it. Around the pool used to stand the figures of a dozen of gnomes and six ancient philosophers. The axis of the park continued past the orangery and the greenhouse to the orchard, which was where the inner garden ended. In the outer part of the garden the axis opened in fan-like shape into a characteristic Baroque motif of three ray-like paths spreading in the shape of a little goosefoot. The middle axis does not come to an end until the banks of the Pesnica River with a statue of a saint on a column.

The artistic emphasis of the inner halls, especially on the first floor, which is accessible by two double-arm staircases, are the paintings and the only partially preserved stuccowork. The illusionist adornment of the two-storey gala hall, where Hercules' story reigns, probably painted around 1708 likely by the artist Johann Caspar Waginger, is a rarity. The stucco décor, fireplaces and part of the building furniture have been preserved. The wallpaper was painted in 1749 by H. Stadler, but part of the original wallpaper has been preserved in other museum collections, the same as with the furniture. The majority of interior fittings and some of the park sculptures are kept by the Regional Museum (Pokrajinski muzej) in Ptuj.

The interior of the manor can be visited by prior arrangement through the municipality, where guided visits are organised. The garden is partly accessible. The exterior areas are still used as cornfields.